Beach volleyball is a variant of the game of volleyball which is played on a sand-covered surface such as found at a beach. As with any sport, beach volleyball players wishing to improve their skills need to practice, either by actual game play or on their own. In particular, beach volleyball skills are different than indoor volleyball skills because of the added difficulty of contending with the varying footing caused by the sand-covered surface found at the beach. This sand-covered surface is a significant factor that must be taken into account by the beach volleyball player, as this surface decreases a player's physical abilities, e.g., it requires a greater effort from a player and affects the timing of that player. Although there have been devices produced to allow a volleyball player to practice skills necessary to play in a volleyball game played indoors in a gymnasium, such devices have certain deficiencies which do not provide optimum benefit when used at a beach or cannot be adapted for use on a beach. Furthermore, a training device for beach volleyball players must allow for the practice of all possible types of attacks, including in particular both the spike shot, which requires access to the top side of the ball, and the cut shot, which requires access to the sides of the ball, while training in the sand (i.e., at the beach and not indoors in a gymnasium). Such a training device should allow the practice of all types of ball strikes, including cuts, pokes, rolls, serves as well as simulated blocks, without the need for continuous reset of the device and without the assistance of another person, and while training in the sand. In addition, such training device should be portable, self-standing and easy to assemble and disassemble at the beach for practice, and easy to use. Furthermore, the optimum beach volleyball training device should be adjustable to accommodate players of different heights and skill levels and should use an ordinary beach volleyball.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,885 discloses in FIG. 1 a baseball batting practice device 10 which includes a ball 20 hanging via flexible member 14 from an inverted L-shaped structure formed from two cylindrical vertical members 22, 28 and horizontal member 32. Such device is not optimally adaptable for use as a beach volleyball training device because the attachment of flexible member 14 at the top of ball 20 does not allow for practice of spike strikes. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,647,042, 5,575,481; 5,683,315, 5,823,895 and 6,099,419 each also discloses a sports practice device having a flexible member attached to the top side of a ball and thus suffer at least the same deficiency as the '885 patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,950 discloses in FIG. 1 a volleyball training device in which a ball 17 is held between a pair of arms 14, 15 having respective ball holders 16, 20 attached thereto. Tapered surfaces 30, 31 cradle the ball until a practicing player strikes the ball 17, after which point the ball 17 will have to be retrieved and reinstalled on the ball holders 16, 20 (or a new ball 17 will be installed) by either using a stepladder or by raising and lowering the entire structure. Arms 14, 15 are connected to a vertical member 13, which is coupled to another vertical member 12, which, in turn, is mounted into a recess 11 in a heavy base 10. The '950 patent states that a second player should also hold and thus provide support for vertical members 12, 13 while a first player is using the training device. The volleyball training device of the '950 patent is not portable, due to the requirement of a heavy base 10 for support and requires that the ball 17 be continually reset between ball holders 16, 20; requires a second person for support during use; and does not allow a player to practice certain types of cut strikes which require a strike to a side of the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,742 discloses in FIGS. 1 to 3 a volleyball training device in which a volleyball 2 is placed within a nylon net bag 24 which hangs via a flexible support 6 below a horizontal arm member 4. Horizontal arm member 4 is coupled to a vertical member 8 via a mounting frame member 3. Vertical member 8 is comprised of two parts, members 10 and 12, and is coupled to a base 60 for support. As evident, the volleyball training device of the '742 patent is not portable owing to the need for base 60 and does not allow for practice of spike strikes because of the attachment of flexible member 6 at the top of ball 2.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,946 discloses in FIG. 1 a volleyball training device which has a ball 34 hanging via a tethering device 36 from an inverted L-shaped bracket formed from a horizontal member 10 and a vertical member comprising of telescoping tubes 14, 16. Tube 14 is coupled to a support base 12 via an upright support tube 18. The volleyball training device of the '946 patent is not portable due to the need for a heavy base 12 and does not allow for practice of spike strikes because of the attachment of tethering device 36 at the top of ball 34.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,251 discloses a volleyball training device having a ball 152 coupled to an arm 150 via a cup 158. The arm 150 is connected to a cam 130 that is mounted on an angle adjustment means (FIGS. 5 and 6) which, in turn, is mounted on a vertical member 24. Vertical member 24 is coupled to a vertical member 22 via a height adjusting mechanism (FIGS. 3 and 4). Vertical member 22 is connected to a base 12. The volleyball training device of the '251 patent is intended for indoor use, requires a complicated cam mechanism 130 and angle adjustment means, and, because of the need for a base 12 for support is not easily adaptable for use at the beach.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,631 discloses a handheld volleyball training device having a ball 12 fixedly connected to a first end of a wand 13 and a handle 17 connected to a second end of wand 13. Two players are required to use such device, a first player to strike ball 12 as a second user holds the handle 17 to position the ball 12 above a volleyball net 14. The volleyball training device of the '631 patent requires an additional player to hold the device and does not use an ordinary volleyball.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,913,739 and 6,672,979 each disclose a volleyball training device (FIG. 1) which requires a specially adapted volleyball 20 which is removably connected to a curved overhead arm assembly 30 that is coupled to an overhead arm 50 via a sheave assembly 40 and a nylon cord 59. The volleyball 20 is coupled to arm 30 via a specialized mounting mechanism which includes magnets mounted within volleyball 20. Curved overhead arm assembly 50 is connected to a vertical support 60 coupled to a separate vertical support 91 for net 92. The volleyball training device of the '739 and '979 patents requires is intended for attachment to an existing structure and does not use an ordinary volleyball.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,445,568 discloses a volleyball training device which requires a separate vertically extending structure, such as a basketball hoop, and is thus not portable and is not easily assembled and disassembled at the beach.
Each of the foregoing U.S. patents has particular deficiencies which, as described herein, are not present in the present invention. An object of the present invention is to provide a training device for beach volleyball players which allows practice for all types of ball strikes, without the need for continuous reset of the device and without the assistance of another person, but while practicing on a sand-covered surface. Another object of the invention is to provide a training device for beach volleyball players which is portable and easily assembled and disassembled at the beach. A further object of the present invention is to provide a training device for beach volleyball players which is adjustable to accommodate players of different heights and skill levels. A still further object of the present invention is to provide a training device for beach volleyball players which uses ordinary beach volleyballs. Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.